1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer security devices, and in particular to an apparatus and method that prevents unauthorized access to a computer system and generates an alarm signal if the computer system is tampered with or moved such as during theft of the computer system.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Computers, especially personal computers have gained substantial popularity among individual users at work or when working at home. Personal computers are now being utilized for jobs heretofore performed by mainframe computers and mini-computers. The rapidly growing popularity in the use of personal computers may, in part, be attributed to the substantial improvement in its speed of operation, ease of use, data storage capacity, and sophistication in displaying information to the computer user.
This has resulted in personal computers becoming more prevalent in the work place, and with more and more people depending on their livelihoods from the use thereof. Advances in computer technology have reduced the size of sophisticated and expensive personal computers, making these desirable late model computers easier to steal. This is especially true for the portable and note book computers in use by travelling business persons and other professionals.
As crime increases, there is a need for those using and owning personal computers to protect their property and work product from theft. To this end, some form of security for protecting the computer system is desirable. Security is required to prevent theft of the personal computer system and illegal access to the data contained therein. Theft of the computer itself sometimes is not as great a loss as the data contained therein. The data may be of such significance as to warrant extreme measures in protecting it.
Protection from and deterrence of theft of computer data is of paramount importance to all who use computer systems. An industrial spy need not expend a great deal of effort to copy critical computer data files from a computer onto an easily transportable floppy disk. Computer data may comprise, for example, trade secrets, customer lists, employee wages and evaluations, marketing plans, discount lists and other sensitive business information that would have value to a competitor. In the case of government and military computers, computer data may comprise top secret information such as battle plans, launch codes and other highly sensitive information that could greatly compromise government or military operations throughout the world.
Attempts at preventing theft of computers have been implemented by anchoring the computer to the desk top with locking or cable means and protection of data with a key lock switch on the front panel of the personal computer itself. However, cables and locks can be cut and the computer disable key lock switch may be bypassed. Encoding data is a method of safeguarding computer records but requires extra enciphering and deciphering programs which increase access decoding and storage encoding time when a user wants to work with the data.
What is needed is an easily implemented way to deter theft of computer systems and to ensure that data cannot be retrieved by unauthorized persons. Some form of preventing unauthorized access of a computer system should be provided. If unauthorized access or removal of the computer system is attempted, an alarm will sound. Ultimately, if the computer system is stolen or otherwise compromised, the data should be permanently rendered unaccessible. Ideally, the security safeguards would be transparent to the authorized computer operator during normal use of the computer system.